cabbageboy

When I see Laroche (sp?) I can't help but think of a really embarrassing OVW angle after he and Charles Evans split. Laroche came out one week in blackface and impersonated Evans and it lasted about 5 minutes before Evans FINALLY came out to attack him.

I don't get the badmouthing of Rick Barnes. What exactly was Texas in basketball before he got there? UK would have been better off if he had taken the job, instead of wondering if Gillispie will run off to OK State or if he stays get arrested for DUI or whatever. Calipari at UK would be a terrifying proposition for the rest of college hoops. The guy turned a nothing program like UMass into a juggernaut, and took a moribund and irrelevant Memphis program to new heights. What would he do at a place like UK that actually cares about winning and gave him all the resources to do so?

Did you miss all of the various Africa segments or the stuff like Brad Pitt and the Manning Bros. in New Orleans? What I found curious was Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus going to Eastern KY, as though these hillbillies living the way they do is some sort of new thing. The funny aspect of it was that they showed the actual school where these kids go to and it was quite nice. With New Orleans, it's possible to help them out since they flat out lost their houses and stuff. With Africa the money will go to bring food and fight diseases. But the mountains of Eastern KY? It's just how they are in that area, have been for generations.

It's funny but I actually had a booking idea for that RVD/GB match that turns Goldberg's no selling into a positive. Imagine RVD throwing everything in his arsenal at Goldberg and like the Terminator GB just keeps getting up and coming back. Van Daminator, Van Terminator, 5 Star...none of it works for a 3 count. Goldberg destroys RVD with a bunch of high impact power moves, but RVD is too agile and keeps avoiding the lethal spear/jackhammer combo. Or maybe GB hits that on the floor. My point is, if it was booked properly and had the right spots the match would be killer stuff. If it was paint by numbers then it wouldn't be that great.

I can't see Bill Self leaving Kansas for OK State. It seems like a strange move, not so much that OSU is a bad program but unless they offer some massive deal then I think he's staying at KU. The rumor is that if Self doesn't go there then OSU will look at Billy Gillispie, which would make him 1 and done at UK. Wonder what UK would do if Gillispie did leave? For whatever reason I can see them throwing money at Bob Knight, though I have nothing to base that on.

I was baffled at the praise for Jason Castro last night. Anyone remember the episode of Beavis and BUTT-head where they watched a hideous video of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and Beavis literally spit out his drink? That's about how I felt watching Castro last night.

Yeah I meant to wax poetic about the X tourney in 2003. Teddy/Juvi and Juvi vs. Sabin were both awesome matches. In fact that final of that tourney was probably Sabin's best singles match.

Here's one I've mentioned before on the board, but how about RVD vs. Goldberg? The most dominant ECW guy of an era vs. the most dominant WCW guy of the same era. To me a dream match has to be something that hasn't been done before, so stuff like RVD/Rey or UT vs. Shawn is out.

I think Sting would have been more affected than Luger. Luger was more adept at playing heel, so he could have still joined the Horsemen and with a healthy Magnum maybe there isn't the constant desire to turn him face. If anything I think Luger vs. Magnum would have been a major feud. Sting could have still made it big in the NWA/WCW though. He and Magnum could have taken turns as the top face. You can never have too many big stars.

Eh, the Horsemen and DOD mostly teamed a bit to take out Hogan but I'd hardly call them close allies. Eventually the Horsemen beat the piss out of Sullivan and it kinda went nowhere after that since the NWO debuted. There's quite a bit of fondness for the Corporate Ministry though. Perhaps it's because it was the last truly silly Russo type storyline before they started pushing HHH down everyone's throat.

Well, at the time I was actually quite offended by the whole Bearer revelation. I thought it was pointless and at that point didn't see where any of this could draw money. Once we found out Kane was still alive then you had to know that Kane would show up at some point and thus they have a money making match on PPV. What money could stuff like Katie Vick or UT cheating on his wife draw?

On some level I have a use for most Boll movies in the so bad they're good vein, but the only one I truly thought was one of the worst pieces of crap ever was Alone in the Dark.

Oh man, you guys can just imagine how much I was laughing my ass off at that game last night. As a Louisville alum I was bewildered as to why some U of L fans were actually cheering FOR Memphis in this game. Someone should put together a highlight reel (or would that be lowlight?) of various Memphis debacles over the years. Start with Walton schooling them in 1973, maybe the end of the Memphis/Louisville 1986 game with Milt Wagner making 2 FTs, obviously the whole Darius Washington 2005 FT deal, and end it with the title game last night and all those clanks at the FT line. Also at various points show Dana Kirk behind bars, how they vacated the 1985 FF, the various players over the years either shot dead or in prison, fans throwing knives and coins at opposing players, etc.

It is funny but I couldn't stop thinking about that Wayne's World cameo either. The same year he also had a brief role in Tombstone as well. RIP

Oh god, Juvi was horrible in that match. Wonder if he was on drugs during that one? I felt sorry for Jericho while watching it.

I have to admit, I've never been much of a Cornette fan but he did a tirade over Dale Brown's appearance the previous week saying that LSU had "no shot against Denny Crum and the Louisville Cardinals in the Final 4." Of course Cornette was right and U of L won the title that year. In fact I think that game was played the very day that NWA show aired, maybe even at the exact time. The Valiant interview was quite good. It was more impactful due to him dropping the goofy act and talking normally. It was a rare serious promo from Valiant.

Wow, KU must really hate Roy Williams for leaving because I didn't see coming at all tonight. I'm actually hoping Kansas can go ahead and win this thing, since they are certainly due at this point. I thought going in to the FF that KU was the least of the various evils: --UNC. Got their usual bullshit home court bracket, got some calls, beat my team. So screw em. --UCLA. Been bogus all year and got some screwy wins, should have been out 2nd round. --Memphis. Do I even need to explain? So really Kansas is the least offensive option of the 4. And unlike their various choker teams I don't see a glaring weakness on this team.

QUESTIONS 1. How often did you buy the weekly PPVs? More than the monthly PPVs? Less? I didn't buy them off the bat since I wasn't paying too much attention at first, but once I heard some good things about the X Division I checked it out. I stopped watching about the time I saw both Russo and Paul Bearer on TV at the same time. Missed the whole Raven angle. Started watching again at some point in mid 2003, then once I got my own apt. the notion of buying weekly PPVs from a 2nd rate company seemed silly (that was like Oct/Nov. 2003). 2. What were the benefits of the weekly PPVs compared to the monthly ones? Drawbacks? The benefits are that the shows functioned on some levels like actual PPVs with quality matches, but since it was the actual TV show too they had to have storyline driven content as well. It was a unique experiment. As far as drawbacks go, it was hard to know week to week what would be on the shows and what would deliver. Also, it's somewhat of a drain to buy PPVs every week. Either you stop feeling like ordering or just forget, etc. 3. Do you think a promotion could ever successfully use the weekly PPV format? No, not really. PPVs have to be something you build to with free TV, putting all of your content on PPV every week just isn't a viable business model. 4. What are some of your fondest memories of that era? I loved the initial X Division stuff with Styles, Lynn, Lo-Ki, Red, etc. This stuff was a jolt to the system back in 2002-03, just amazing stuff. Jawdropping stuff. Raven's initial TNA work was excellent as well, be it the Jarrett feud that didn't totally pay off (not Raven's fault) or the feud with the New Church. There were also some guys who made an initial mark in TNA like CM Punk. In fact I still remember a Scott Keith rant for a weekly show where Punk debuted with a comment like this: "You know you're a bush league indy worker that works in front of 50 people a night when your name is something like CM Punk." It's amusing since the guy just won a major match in front of 74,000 people. 5. Do you think the weekly PPVs have any impact ( no pun intended) on TNA today? Sure. It built that initial fanbase that followed their product wherever it went. If not for those initial shows making a mark and introducing a style of action that wasn't present in North America at that time, then TNA isn't around today.

I actually really dig the UT/Kane/Bearer stuff watching now. At the time the whole thing was disturbing and offensive to me, but now in retrospect it was done just right. It's almost like Bearer got UT into a false sense of security, then brought Kane in at the ONE point where it would hurt UT most (HIAC). The slow build is what made the feud. There was too much going on with UT/Bret and UT/Shawn to debut Kane. It's almost like that stuff needed to play out and then go into the Kane feud. And then UT didn't want to fight his brother, until Kane finally drove him over the edge. Kane ran roughshod over guys like Mankind and Vader until finally UT stopped him. The storyline ended up drawing big money, so I think they did it pretty well.

I've said it time and time again. UCLA is never going to win a title under Ben Howland because due to his style they can't score enough. In the post shot clock, 3 point era you can't win titles scoring like 68-73 points a game. Once you get to a certain level (like the FF) all the teams can play quality defense, so it comes down to who can make plays and score. Anyway, I think whoever wins this next game is taking the title. Alarming fact for Memphis: It's been longer since a team with 1 loss has won it all than the last undefeated team. IU was undefeated in 1976, while the last 1 loss champion was NC State in 1974.

Okay I would definitely bring up Ron Killings, Chris Harris, and Colt Cabana. Having seen Jay Bradley's OVW work I don't think he's all that much, so maybe keep him down a bit longer. As far as people I'd release, here is the list by show. Raw: --Ashley. Has anyone more useless ever gotten on TWO WMs? No talent, not really hot, injury prone. Get rid of her. --Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Okay seriously, why is Duggan on my TV in the year 2008? Make him an agent or something, but his days as an active wrestler are over. --Cade/Murdoch. A controversial pick I know, but still have these guys been over at all in their lives? Hell, Cade has been around for 4-5 years in WWE and has shown zilch. Murdoch seems like an indy worker at a county fair in Texas. --The Highlanders. Not over, never have been and now one is in political trouble. --Kennedy. This will piss some off on here, but I just don't see much in the guy at this point. He's blown it big time with 2 chances to main event, he's shown no real signs of improving, and his one note mic schtick has run its course. I was toying with saying Umaga, but I might at least trade Umaga to SD or put him with another Samoan in a tag team before giving up on him entirely. Carlito is at least mid card fodder and I might team him with Santino or something. Smackdown: --Dave Taylor. Not so much should he be released as just made into an agent or trainer. --Deuce/Domino. Cherry is proving to be more of the star of this unit. These guys aren't much as workers anyway and aren't over at all. --Hornswoggle. The midget is insanely played out. He only inhibits Finlay's ability to get over as a serious title threat. --Coach. The guy is a terrible wrestling announcer. If they are hell bent on keeping him in this role, then get rid of him. He doesn't have enough charisma to be a good heel manager. --Kenny Dykstra. Probably won't happen but I think he might need to be released for his own good, then come back a couple years later. But right now the Spirit Squad stench is still on the guy and no one can take him seriously. --Maryse. She doesn't do much for me in the hotness dept. and offers nothing otherwise. --Torrie. I don't get her continued employment. Shown no signs of improving at all in nearly 10 years of being in the business. ECW: --Lena Yada. Wouldn't be missed at all. --Mike Knox. Only semi relevant in the Kelly angle, now what is he? A jobber. Bye bye. --Kevin Thorn. Once they fired Ariel whatever heat he had vanished. Not big enough to succeed in the gimmicks he has. Unless they resign Gangrel and make them a vampire team I don't see much for the guy. --Boogeyman. I didn't even know he was still around.

Eh, I think Lawler got some DQ wins over Flair though, so maybe he figured "Hey, at least I'm not jobbing to the guy" and stayed active in wrestling. I don't know much about that feud though, I'm more familiar with Bockwinkel travelling to Memphis. Speaking of which, didn't Lawler put his career up against Hennig in 1988 for that AWA title shot?

This show needs to be seen in its full version and not the clipped VHS tape. When you take it all in it's not as rushed and odd feeling. Most of the crap on the show is at least short. Bulldogs/Dream Team is a classic match with a great finish and it's completely non formula (as in no yawn worthy "face in peril" sequence lasting 3 days). The 3 arena aspect hurts the show. They would have sold out any 1 of those arenas easily, but it's a tough sell to get people to watch 4 matches at their arena, then stay tuned for the rest of the card.

I think this could be a tremendous feud and Batista's promo work on SD was some of his best to date. Completely agree with the notion that there are consequences to winning and losing matches, that long term (or even short term) history should be a driving force in storylines. It's also the proper way to do shades of gray, with both guys having valid points and fans can feasibly root on both men. Too often with shades of gray booking does the angle portray both men in a negative light, showing us what not to like about these guys.

Here's a question regarding Benoit. What do you think of WWE 24/7's edits of Benoit's matches, yet not editing him out of a Horseman beatdown segment or interview? At this point isn't all this a bit petty?